As far as first halves go, Penn’s was pretty good. A six-goal run and a 21-3 shot advantage in the first half paved the way for the Quakers to knock off host Princeton, 9-6, to claim the program’s third Ivy League Tournament championship and solidify an automatic berth to the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

It was a complete turnaround from 18 days ago when the Quakers fell behind in the first half on the same field to the same opponent as the Tigers dashed Penn’s hope of an outright conference championship with a 9-5 win. In that game, the Quakers fell behind, 5-1, and could never complete a rally. It was the Quakers who struggled to mount any offense in the first half of the first meeting managing just four shots in the first half to Princeton’s 14. The Quakers made sure that didn’t happen this time, holding Princeton without a shot on goal until 20:52 had been played. By that time, the Quakers were ahead, 6-0, and the Tigers could not roar back.

Princeton looked to get back in the game with four goals in the second half, but a perfectly efficient Penn offense stifled any rally. The Quakers did not take many shots in the second half – just three to be exact – but they scored on each of them. Arguably the biggest of the three was Williamson’s second as she scored 40 seconds after Erin McMunn had netted her third of the day to get the Tigers within four with under eight minutes to play. Williamson’s second regained a five-goal lead for Penn and rendered two goals from the Tigers down the stretch nothing more than window dressing on the final score.

The Quakers have now won three of the five Ivy League Tournaments contested since 2010, and improve to 7-2 all-time in Ivy League Tournament games. The automatic bid secured with the win ensures that the Quakers will compete in an eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament – the sixth-longest active streak among Division I schools.

Four different players had two goals for the Quakers as the Red and Blue spread the scoring around. Lindsey Smith (Unionville) and Nina Corcoran scored their two goals in the first half run, while Lely DeSimone had one in each half. Iris Williamson (Germantown Friends) scored both of hers in the second half, keeping Princeton at bay as the Tigers tried to come back.

Tory Bensen – the hero on Friday in double overtime – battled through a face guard all game to dish out two assists while also causing a turnover to earn Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Lindsey Smith, Meg Markham, Taylor Foussadier (Washington Township), Nina Corcoran and Lely DeSimone.

A dominant first half for Penn put the Quakers in a comfortable spot after 30 minutes. The Quakers netted the game’s first six goals, at one point held a 17-1 edge in shots and did not allow the Tigers to mount any semblance of offense. Nina Corcoran and Lindsey Smith each scored twice in the six-goal run to open the game, while Tory Bensen had two assists.

Bensen and Corcoran connected to start the scoring, but in a different manner than usual. Corcoran was the goal-scorer, driving to goal off a back pass from Bensen 2:25 in. Just over two minutes later, Lely DeSimone got on the scoresheet with a top-corner goal to make it 2-0 Quakers.

The game slowed down in terms of scoring for the next seven minutes, but the third goal also went Penn’s way off the stick of Catherine Dickinson. She gave Penn a 3-0 lead after the Quakers were denied twice in close by Annie Woehling and had an apparent free position goal called back after a dangerous shot call on the Quakers.

Smith scored the first of her two in the half on the man-up, giving Penn a 4-0 lead with 13;40 to play in the first half. She made it two in a row just over two minutes later, working an individual effort to the right side and scoring to put Penn up, 5-0.

Corcoran would finish the first-half scoring for the Quakers with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half, taking advantage of a Princeton turnover on its own defensive end line and going right to goal for her second of the game.

Princeton would finally find a modicum of momentum with two goals in the final nine minutes of play, getting goals from its offensive leaders – Sarah Lloyd and Erin McMunn.

That was as close as the Tigers would get in the first half, and two Penn goals out of the break sent the Quakers on their way to the win.

Notes: Meg Markham’s four draw controls give her 15 over her career in Ivy Tournament games, tied for most by a Penn player … Lucy Ferguson extended her Penn record for saves in the Ivy League Tournament to 29 … Tory Bensen’s 47 points this season are 13th-most by a Penn player in a single season … Nina Corcoran’s 44 points are tied for 15th … The win is the 160th career win for Karin Corbett as head coach of the Quakers.